Charles Leclerc has claimed victory in dramatic British Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli dropping backwards due to a car issue in the latter stages while a crash for Max Verstappen triggered a late-race Safety Car.
Leclerc made a lightning start, the Monegasque and team mate Lewis Hamilton getting ahead of Antonelli off the line. While Antonelli eventually caught Hamilton for P2, Leclerc remained steady ahead, only losing the lead when he made his pit stop.
That handed P1 to Antonelli, who stretched out his stint before eventually pitting on Lap 36. The Italian promptly went on the chase of Leclerc – but this came undone when he experienced an issue with his car on Lap 41, which the team suggested was a left front wheel shield failure.
After two further pit stops, Antonelli managed to continue on but had dropped to P10, as well as receiving a five-second time penalty for track limits.
Further drama then followed when Verstappen spun off into the gravel trap on Lap 48, resulting in the Safety Car being deployed.
With the race then ending under the Safety Car, Leclerc crossed the line to claim his ninth career win ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell – who, in staying out on track while others pitted during the Safety Car phase, managed to leapfrog Hamilton.
The final spot on the podium went to Hamilton – a position he retained after being investigated post-race for a yellow flag infringement, with the stewards handing the seven time World Champion a reprimand.
The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Russell, P3: Hamilton, P4: Norris, P5: Hadjar, P6: Lawson, P7: Lindblad, P8: Bortoleto, P9: Colapinto and P10: Gasly.
What a result for Leclerc! His first win since October 2024 at the United States Grand Prix. His drive was absolutely perfect! Nothing to fault at all, Ferrari had the right strategy even when the Safety Car came out.
As for his teammate, a home podium for Lewis! A shame he couldn’t battle for the win, but a very good result considering he had a 5 second time penalty, the team will be walking away from this weekend in a very good mindset!
P2 for Russell, kind of damage limitation for the Brit, wasn’t a great weekend overall but he brought it back with a home podium, but at the end of the weekend, he would’ve been happy with that. As for his teammate, Antonelli, a weekend to forget for him, he started well with the Sprint victory and then getting pole position, it all looked great… until he reported something was broke, dropping him to 6th, to then pit again and dropped down to 10th by Lap 45, he then also received a five second time penalty. After the chequered flag it dropped the young Italian to 16th.
A decent result for Norris, a shame he didn’t have more performance, as that would’ve been an entertaining battle, but still great for him to get a podium! As for Piastri, out of the points, in P11, not a good weekend at all.
5th for Hadjar, a good performance from him, this is what Red Bull wanted in their second seat, someone who can score decent points, when Verstappen doesn’t. Talking of the World Champion, a DNF for the Dutchman, a weekend to forget for him, it’s his 3rd DNF of the season so far.
6th and 7th for the Racing Bulls! They’ve consistently scored points in the last 5 rounds now and only one weekend so far of this season they haven’t! The amount of work they’ve put in is so consistent – this will count towards the end of the season as they will be battling for 5th with Alpine. Special shoutout to Lindblad, his first home Grand Prix and some great points to see out the weekend.
Points for Bortoleto! P8, a really strong showing for the Audi driver. Audi’s best point scoring position so far this season.
A double points finish for Alpine, Gasly 9th and Colapinto 10th, another good result for the team, like I said earlier this will make a difference at the end of the season, with their fight with Racing Bulls.
It feels incredible. Unfortunately the end was maybe not the one I will have dreamt of but to win after the last few weekends that have been particularly difficult, all the work that we put into trying to get the feeling back in the car. I felt like I had found something yesterday between the Sprint and Qualifying, but I had to confirm that today. And today, the feeling was back where it needs to be. I’m so incredibly happy.
Leclerc on the win.
As for the next race weekend, Round 10 of the 2026 Formula 1 season and we head to Belgium, on the 17th – 19th July!
Jordan's Track Talk 
Leave a comment